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The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) held its annual Brake Safety Day on September 7th, and the results might stop you dead in your tracks. Brake Safety Day is part of the CVSA’s Operation Airbrake Program in partnership with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrators (FMCSA). Since the program began in 1998, it has inspected more than 3.4 million brakes.

With a total of 7,698 vehicle inspections performed between the United States and Canada during the 2017 edition of the annual enforcement blitz, 78% of the vehicles inspected did not have violations that would’ve placed the vehicles out of service. There were, however, 1,064 inspections conducted that resulted in an out of service violation for brake-related violations.

The goal of the annual Brake Safety Day is to reduce the number of crashes caused by faulty braking systems. The roadside inspections allow officials to not only perform important inspections, but to also educate drivers, mechanics, owner-operators, and others on the importance of proper brake inspection and regular maintenance.

The enforcement blitz also allows an opportunity for officials to get valuable data on how well antilock braking systems (ABS) are maintained in accordance with federal regulations. The Brake Safety Day found many ABS-related violations including:

5,456 air-braked power units requiring ABS

749 trailers requiring ABS

821 hydraulic-braked trucks requiring ABS

49 buses requiring ABS

Properly functioning braking systems are a crucial part of safe commercial motor vehicle operation and would mean the difference between life or death as poorly maintained or improperly installed brake systems can reduce braking efficiency and increase stopping distances required of large vehicles. This not only poses a serious safety risk to drivers, but to the public as well.

Don’t wait for roadside checks, or an accident, to know whether or not your braking system is working properly. Be proactive and stay on top of regular maintenance for your fleet vehicles. Our GPS tracking device includes scheduled maintenance reminders as well as alerts for any engine issues, letting you get the full picture of your vehicle’s status so you can stay ahead of violations or breakdowns and keep your fleet on the road.

New FDA regulations are making making the rules and protocols around the transportation of food and other temperature sensitive goods stricter. In order to maintain compliance and ensure your fleets are fully equipped to provide consistent temperature reporting, read on.

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

Back in 2011 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA. The act was passed in order to ensure the safety of the population by preventing contamination to the food supply. This has been seen as the largest reform to food safety laws in America in the last 70 years.

Preventing Food Contamination

With the new Food Safety Modernization Act, the FDA is aiming to shift focus from responding to outbreaks of contaminated food to preventing them before they even happen. In doing so, they are enforcing more stringent requirements on sanitary transportation practices. One such instance relates to requirements for vehicles and transportation equipment, transportation operations, training, and record keeping. Included in this list of requirements is one for individuals who transport foods that require time and temperature control to ensure they are safely maintained through the transportation cold chain during operations.

Transportation Cold Chain Management

In order to comply with the new regulations, soon it will be mandatory for refrigerated trucks carrying temperature sensitive food and goods to maintain strict temperature protocols including pre-cooling the vehicle, during loading and unloading operations, and during the transportation phase. In order to show accountability for this, consistent temperature reporting is required throughout all stages of the transportation cold chain. Shippers must also provide a complete temperature report to the receiver upon request.

Easiest Way to Track Reefer Temperature

In order to stay compliant with the FSMA and ensure that your temperature records are properly kept on your cargo, one of the easiest ways currently available on the market is the Valor Temptrac Reefer Temperature Monitoring system. This system easily integrates with your Geotab GPS Fleet Tracking devices with an easy to install kit including sensors and other hardware, and the software can easily be installed from the Geotab Marketplace. Once these components are put in place, you’ll have all your temperature data at your fingertips.

Geotab Fleet Tracking

In addition to the value of consistent temperature monitoring for your fleet of vehicles, Geotab also offers a range of other valuable features as well, including:

GPS to GO is an official reseller of the Geotab GPS tracking solution, the only end-to-end fleet tracking system; from the easy plug & play GPS tracker devices to the sophisticated yet intuitive fleet management software. Learn More.